Илмекті талшықты оптикалық жүйе және оның қолданылуы

Flexible optical fiber bundle with an eyepiece on one end and a lens on the other

A fiberscope is a flexible optical fiber bundle with an eyepiece on one end and a lens on the other that is used to examine and inspect small, difficult to reach places such as the insides of machines, locks, and the human body.

Guiding of light by refraction, the principle that makes fiber optics possible, was first demonstrated by Daniel Colladon and Jacques Babinet in Paris in the early 1840s. Then in 1930, Heinrich Lamm, a German medical student, became the first person to put together a bundle of optical fibers to carry an image. These discoveries led to the invention of endoscopes and fiberscopes. In the 1960s the endoscope was upgraded with glass fiber, a flexible material that allowed light to transmit, even when bent. While this provided users with the capability of real time observation, it did not provide them with the ability to take photographs. In 1964 the fiberscope, the first gastro camera, was invented. It was the first time an endoscope had a camera that could take pictures. This innovation led to more careful observations, and more accurate diagnoses.

Fiber optic cables use total internal reflection to carry information. When light travels from one medium to another it is refracted. If the light is traveling from a less dense medium to a dense medium it is refracted away from the normal. The opposite applies if the light is traveling from a dense medium to a less dense medium. In optic cables, light travels through the dense glass core (high refractive index) by constantly reflecting from the less dense cladding (lower refractive index). This happens because the surface of the core acts like a perfect mirror and the angle of the light is always larger than the critical angle.

Locksmiths use fiberscopes to check the position of pins. Technicians and inspectors use fiberscopes to look at the inside of machines without having to disassemble them. Fiberscopes can also be used in a military or police application to check beneath doors or around corners, or otherwise perform surveillance or reconnaissance.

The 1982 film Who Dares Wins, about the Special Air Service, depicted the use of fiberscopes in counterterrorism. Fiberscopes are an important tool in tactical shooters such as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, SWAT, Ready or Not, and Door Kickers, where they are used to check under doors or around corners without revealing the player's position or exposing them to enemy attack.